Existing housing units affordable to low-income households

About this indicator

This indicator tracks the distribution of affordable home sales and rental units. It includes focus on rental housing that is affordable to households at 40%, 50% and 80% of median income in King County.

Due to a gap in housing subsidy counts, only market-rate rental units are considered in the analysis of rental housing. As such, the distribution of rental housing likely underestimates the rates of affordability for lower income households.

Key findings

Percent of all market rate rental units in King County that are affordable for households earning 50% of median income: 36% (Spring 2009)

Percent of all market rate rental units in King County that are affordable for households earning 40% of median income: 9% (Spring 2009)

Technical notes

Rental data provided by Dupre + Scott Apartment Advisors, Inc.. Because their survey includes only market-rate rental housing (excluding all subsidized and tax credit properties serving those households earning 60% or less of median income), the rates of affordability are likely underestimated. However, due to a lack of countywide data that consistently tracks subsidized units and households, it is uncertain the degree to which these estimates are skewed. As such, this bulletin does not attempt to estimate the distribution of subsidized housing in King County, but acknowledges its absence in reporting.

The distribution of rental housing by jurisdiction is based on the housing unit estimates by the Washington State Office of Financial Management. This bulletin estimates the number of rental units based on the jurisdictional distribution of renter vs. owner housing provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. The number of rental units by jurisdiction is likely overestimated and should be read with caution.